19 / 02 / 2020
EARTO Open Letter on the MFF for the Special European Council meeting of 20 February 2020
Ahead of the Special European Council meeting of 20 February, EARTO fully supports the efforts undertaken to reach a timely agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Europe and its citizens need a future oriented MFF at the level of EU’s ambitions, and we need it soon. In that context, EARTO President, Mr Antti Vasara, sent an open letter to President Charles Michel with key recommendations:- A future oriented MFF requires ambitious commitments to prioritise and secure RD&I investments for the whole duration of the MFF. The European Council needs to ensure ambitious funding and complementarity between EU programmes for the maturation, scale-up and optimal (re-)use of technology and innovation. The Horizon Europe programme, the Digital Europe programme, the Space programme, and the Defence programme will ensure European technology leadership in strategic value chains and areas of public interest, supporting the green and digital transformation of industry.
- Setting concrete targets of raising public RD&I investments at EU, national and regional levels is essential to deliver impact for all European citizens. The EU 3% target of GDP investment in R&D should not be questioned: the next MFF should rather aim at making it a reality. In turn, concrete and ambitious commitments of public RD&I investments will give the right signal to boost private RD&I investments, making innovation accessible to industries of all sizes across Europe.
